Dec 9, 2008

Hawaii: Day 3

Another early morning wake-up took us to Cafe Kaila for breakfast where we found a nice change of pace from Waikiki. Then we drove north on the Kamehameha highway to the Dole pineapple plantation and enjoyed the tour of their garden and trainride through the pineapple fields. Continuing north, we stopped at Haleiwa beach to crash through the giant waves and watch the surfers further out. Lunch was Giovanni's shrimp truck and shaved ice from Matsumoto's. In the afternoon we headed up to the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie. This complex is clearly one of the island's biggest tourist traps, but they overcame my skepticism and I actually enjoyed the island exhibits as well as the dinner and Luau. Worth doing once but I probably wouldn't go back. The only downside was the hour long drive from the north shore back to Waikiki in the dark.